Criterion Originals

Criterion Originals

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Criterion Originals
  • Spotlight on Horror F/X

    The following introduction by Oscar-winning special makeup effects creator and owner of the KNB EFX Group Inc. Howard Berger—whose prolific career has included everything from DAY OF THE DEAD, EVIL DEAD II, and THE WALKING DEAD to BOOGIE NIGHTS, CASINO, and KILL BILL— was recorded in 2024.

  • Spotlight on THE BROOD with Grady Hendrix

    In this installment of our Spotlight series, critic and author Grady Hendrix examines the potent blend of emotional anguish and body horror that David Cronenberg tapped into for one of his most terrifying classics.

  • VAMPYR: The Genre Film as Experimental Film

    Observations on Film Art No. 34

    Carl Theodor Dreyer’s haunting 1932 masterpiece VAMPYR has long occupied a singular place in film history, resting somewhere at the intersection of horror, avant-garde cinema, and waking nightmare. In this episode of Observations on Film Art, Professor David Bordw...

  • Guillermo del Toro on THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER

  • Ants in Your Plants of 1941

    This video essay on SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS by critic David Cairns features director Bill Forsyth and was produced by the Criterion Collection in 2014.

  • Rachel Kushner’s Adventures in Moviegoing

    1 season

    With her latest novel, "Creation Lake," hitting shelves this September, acclaimed writer Rachel Kushner—whose "The Flamethrowers" was recently named one of the best 100 books of the twenty-first century by the New York Times—sits down with Criterion Channel curator Aliza Ma to discuss her long-st...

  • Spotlight on New Hollywood

    The following introduction by Mark Harris, author of “Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood,” was recorded in 2024

  • Spotlight on WATERMELON MAN with Racquel J. Gates

    In the following introduction recorded in 2021, film scholar Racquel J. Gates explores Melvin Van Peebles’s sole foray into Hollywood filmmaking, an audacious satire that dissects America’s racist double standards with acerbic irreverence and radical insight.

  • Spotlight on THE ORGANIZER with Imogen Sara Smith

    In the latest installment of our Spotlight series, critic Imogen Sara Smith examines Mario Monicelli’s politically engaged comedy THE ORGANIZER, a film that asks whether comedy can find room for such serious subject matter as trade unionism and class struggle.

  • Sofia Coppola on LA NOTTE

  • Rebecca Miller on LE NOTTI BIANCHE

  • Watching Gena Rowlands

  • Spotlight on PURPLE NOON with Imogen Sara Smith

    2 items

    In the following introduction recorded in 2021, critic Imogen Sara Smith explores the seductive charm and subtle menace of René Clément’s gorgeous Patricia Highsmith adaptation, starring Alain Delon in his breakout role as the duplicitous Tom Ripley.

  • Spotlight on Mikio Naruse

    The following interview with scholar Imogen Sara Smith was recorded in 2024.

  • Spotlight on Youssef Chahine

    The following interview with scholar Richard Peña was recorded in 2024.

  • Intro to Method Acting with Vincent D’Onofrio, Ethan Hawke, and Isaac Butler

    This conversation between actors Ethan Hawke and Vincent D’Onofrio and author Isaac Butler was recorded in 2023.

  • Tatsuya Nakadai on Five Japanese Masters

  • The Universe Is Out There: Josh & Benny Safdie

    Directed by Michael Chaiken • 2017 • United States
    Get to know the siblings whose films have captured the frenetic pulse of New York’s city streets. An original documentary featuring footage from the making of their new thriller, GOOD TIME, along with several of the brothers’ early shorts.

  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on SEVEN SAMURAI

  • Lime Kiln Club Field Day Intro

    The following conversation between Ron Magliozzi, film curator at the Museum of Modern Art, and Jacqueline Stewart, professor of cinema and media studies at the University of Chicago and former director and president of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, was recorded in 2024.

  • Secrets of the Hollywood Archives: FORBIDDEN PLANET

    One of the most influential science-fiction films of the 1950s, FORBIDDEN PLANET shaped the evolution of the genre for decades to come with its groundbreaking production design, special effects, and electronic score. In this edition of Secrets of the Hollywood Archives, Oscar-winning visual-effec...

  • The Viewer Who Knew Just Enough: Point of View in BLOOD SIMPLE

    With their razor-sharp debut BLOOD SIMPLE, Joel and Ethan Coen introduced the world to their striking sensibility and redefined film noir for a new generation. In this edition of Observations on Film Art, Professor David Bordwell explores how the brothers employ a sophisticated shuffling of viewp...

  • Ira Sachs on JE TU IL ELLE

  • Paul Schrader: Man in a Room

    A titan of the American cinema who emerged from the ranks of the 1970s movie brats with his era-defining screenplay for TAXI DRIVER, writer-director Paul Schrader has pursued a defiantly singular vision in his provocative explorations of guilt and salvation in a soul-sick world. In this original ...